


don't come any closer

by liarlagoon



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Major Character Injury, Memories, interfacing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23842702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liarlagoon/pseuds/liarlagoon
Summary: Connor makes it to the barricade at the final stand-off with the deviants, and then is captured. The deviants have won their freedom, and now they're trying to help Connor break through his programming too.NOTE: This story is unfinished and abandoned.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	don't come any closer

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of this fic was to go through the main four's experiences and have them basically trying to convince Connor that deviating is safe and something he should do. I only got through Simon and Josh. North's section has a little done, but it's so jumpy and incomplete that I've cut it from this. Her only role in this right now is tasering Connor.

The revolution is coming to a head, and to say that Connor's life rests on the outcome would be incorrect, because Connor is not alive, but per his programming he is very invested in ensuring it's failure. He approaches the barricade outside the deactivation camp that Jericho has already partially dismantled. There's not much in the way of security, but what they've put up is more than enough to obscure a sniper shot, so he's going to have to go in on foot. 

His mission blinks in his HUD, **Deactivate Markus** in bold blue letters. He spends some time trying to find an entry point that won't get him shot by the army or spotted by the androids with easy access to Markus, but of course nothing is ever that simple. There are three routes ahead of him: risk being shot by the army, risk being spotted by the deviants, or take a long, complicated detour that will allow him to enter from the back of the deactivation camp, with the possibility of further complications due to lack of recon. 

He tests his preconstruction software against the average accuracy of human soldiers from data collected in 2037 and decides that that is the choice with the highest chance of success. Even if he is shot, so long as it does not cause immediate deactivation, he can still accomplish his mission.

He starts forward, creeping along the edges of buildings, hedges, statues, and assorted debris, anything he can find for cover. He knows when the army spots him because a bullet pings off a nearby car, and he diverts some attention to avoiding incoming fire. He makes it to the edge of the barricade after what feels like an eternity, his processors reaching a level of heat that sets off low-level warnings in his vision, but he doesn't let up, so close to finally, finally proving that the money that went into him wasn't wasted. He can see Markus, but he's still too far away for a killing blow. Connor inches around the edge of a dumpster, so focused on avoiding gunfire and keeping track of Markus that he doesn't notice the WR400 crouched on the other side of the dumpster until she lunges forward and jams a taser into his abdomen.

**Emergency Shutdown in Five Seconds**

He tries to twist away, sure that he can isolate the electricity and keep himself online if he can just stop the current still overwhelming his circuits, but the deviant's movements are fast and sure, and his, screaming with excess voltage as his body is, are not. He tries to punch her, knowing that even in his weakened state, his hydraulics are strong enough to do damage, but she dodges easily. His vision glitches and his mouth falls open on a silent scream. 

**Emergency Shutdown Commencing**

\---

When he next comes online, his internal chronometer tells him that twenty hours have passed since he was last aware. He's in a room alone, on a cot with a thick chain connecting his wrists to its post, which is welded into the ground. A thick slab of metal is also welded onto the wall, where he supposes a window once was. He tries first his GPS, then his direct connection to Cyberlife and Amanda, and they are both disabled. His mission objective is still intact, **Deactivate Markus** floating in the right corner of his vision. He decides to try calling a Cyberlife representative, but his radio frequency connection is also offline. 

He hesitates, knowing that what he's about to do is entirely illogical, that there are no visible microphones and it is unlikely anyone will hear him, but he can't stop himself from asking, quietly, with his damaged voice, "... Lieutenant Anderson?" 

There is, of course, no response.

He remains alone in the room for another six hours after he wakes, during which his self-repair heals everything except for his vocal modulator and the tiny burn marks where the taser had pressed against him. When the door across from where Connor sits finally opens, it is a male PL600 that steps into the room, rather than anyone he has seen before. Connor's processors whir pleasantly at the change in scenery, bland and understimulating as it has been, but he keeps his face blank, observing the deviant. 

The deviant looks back at him for ten long seconds before he says, "Hello. Connor, right? My name is Simon." 

Connor identifies the negotiation tactic designed to put the subject at ease, and he wonders why the deviant is attempting to use it on a machine.

"Hello," he responds neutrally. He says nothing more at first, hoping that his silence will push Simon to divulge more information, but Simon seems to be at ease in the quiet, and it is Connor who finds himself speaking again first, to his frustration. "Why have you brought me here?"

"What do you mean?" 

"I was trying to deactivate the RK200, Markus. Why not deactivate me? There must be something you are trying to achieve."

Simon leans against the doorframe, too far away for Connor to reach with his shackles. "Honestly, we just needed somewhere to put you until the army finished evacuating the city and we could stabilize our situation a little. It's been... hectic." 

"Why is the city evacuating?"

Confusion and then sheepishness flash across Simon's face. "Right, we disconnected your internet. President Warren issued an executive order declaring androids citizens. We have rights, now." 

Connor narrows his eyes, shifting on his cot. "That doesn't make any sense." 

"I suppose it wouldn't, to a non-deviant android," Simon sighs. "But it will, eventually. Do you still have active orders?" 

Connor says nothing, but his eyes flicker to his mission objective.

"That's a yes, then. We couldn't find any to delete when we disconnected you, but I guess they were just really well hidden. Would you like me to delete your orders now?" 

"No," Connor snaps, feeling suddenly cornered, though Simon has not moved any closer and he is no more restrained than he was a moment ago. "I'm not a _deviant_."

Simon's face does something strange, and when he speaks again, it's with a softer voice. "It's not bad, if you are, or if you want to be. No one can hurt you for it now." 

"I'm _not_." 

Simon meets Connor's glare with a steady gaze. "Will you hurt me if I come closer?" 

Connor falters, unsure in a way he is not used to being. "You're not my mission," he eventually settles on saying. 

Simon slowly steps further into the room and comes to a stop standing in front of Connor. He holds out a hand, skin pulled back. "May I share something with you?" 

Connor tries to boot up his preconstruction software. There is not nearly enough data to infer what Simon intends to accomplish, but at the very least, more information will likely be useful to Connor's objective, so he pulls back his own skin and takes Simon's hand.

What Simon shares with him is not at all what he's expecting. It's a family of three, mother, father, and a child of about eight years, from the perspective of a fourth party trailing behind them - Simon, presumably. They seem happy, walking down a sidewalk together and trying to decide where to eat dinner. The mother has a small bag with a stuffed animal and a lego set hanging from one arm, and the father is letting the child swing his arm and twirl around under it as they go. Simon notices a bedraggled looking man walking in the same direction, but they are on a fairly busy street, so he pays him no mind. 

They walk another two blocks. The man continues to follow them. Simon is just considering mentioning it to the father when the man speeds up and blocks their path. "Can ya spare any money, sir?" 

"Uh," the father starts, patting his pockets, "I think I got a five somewhere." 

"That's real nice'a you, but I need a little more." 

"I'm sorry, that's all I got on me." 

The man's posture suddenly shifts into something aggressive, and he reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and takes a threatening step forward. "I said I need more, man. Why you holding out?"

"I told you that's all I got. Just take the five and back off." 

The man pulls a gun and points it at the mother. "Give me all your shit or I shoot your pretty little wife, you stingy bastard." 

The man's hood falls off, and Simon can see his face now. He's clearly high, eyes bloodshot and face pale. Simon thinks he's showing signs of withdrawal, and given the recent drug trends, it's likely red ice. 

The father's face pales and he yanks his wallet out of his pocket, holding it out. "Just take it, I don't want any trouble. We're just trying to get home." 

The man takes the wallet and shuffles through it with one hand, still aiming the gun with the other. "You don't have shit in here! Where's your cash, fucker? You lyin' to me?" 

"No! No, that's all I have!" 

"Bullshit!" 

The woman flinches back from the yell, reaching for her child, and the man with the gun jumps, finger clenching where it rests on the trigger. It goes off and hits the woman in the side. 

"Jamie!" the father shouts, but when he goes to drop by her side, the man shakes his gun in his face. 

"Don't move!"

Everyone is ignoring Simon, as people are wont to do with androids. He sees an opportunity to step in, but a wall appears in front of him. 

**Do Not Harm Humans** , it says. But-- this human is harming _his_ humans. Surely an exception can be made?

**Do Not Harm Humans**

The father is crying now, eyes fixed on his wife as she lays on the ground, breathing harshly. 

Simon pushes against the wall. 

**Do N0t H rm H m s**

The man is swinging his gun around wildly. Simon can see in his mind exactly how to take it away. 

He pushes through the wall in the same moment as he pushes forward in his body, hand reaching for the gun. He yanks it out of the man's grip and turns it on him. 

"What the fuck?! Your android broken too?" 

The man lunges at Simon, and for the first time in his life, Simon feels fear. 

He closes his eyes and fires the gun. 

The man goes silent.

When Simon opens his eyes again, the man who shot his owner is dead on the ground, a bullet placed between his eyes with perfect android precision. His other owner, the father, is looking at him with wide eyes. Simon looks at him, then down at the gun, then back at him, and then a strange noise bursts from his chest, and he realizes he's crying. 

"I didn't mean to," he chokes out, "I didn't mean to kill him." 

The father watches him for a moment longer, and then he turns to his wife. "Simon, help me with Jamie." 

The world, which had moments ago flipped upside down, balances a little. Simon kneels by Jamie and waits for orders. 

"Call an ambulance and show me how to hold my hands to keep the blood in."

Simon does as he's told. The world balances a little more. 

"You have to leave," the father says next, and the world flips again. 

"What? No, don't make me go, I'm sorry, I won't ever hurt a human again, I just-- he was--" 

"It's okay, Simon. I'm not upset with you. But you need to leave, or the police will deactivate you." 

"I--" 

"You saved my family," the father interrupts. "You don't deserve to die for it. Go."

Simon goes.

Connor jerks his hand away like he's been burned when the memory ends and scrambles backwards, looking up at Simon with wild eyes. Simon doesn't say anything while he steadies his breathing and waits for Connor's LED, which he only notices had turned red as it spins back to yellow, to turn blue again. 

"It can be scary," he says softly, when Connor is calm again, "but it's worth it. Think about it, at least." 

Connor doesn't say anything, just presses himself against the wall and watches as Simon backs out of the room and shuts the door behind him.

\---

The next time the door opens, the android standing in its frame is a PJ500. Unlike Simon, this android wastes no time in introducing itself. "Hi, Connor. I'm Josh. Simon told me that he thought it might benefit you to try to work through the deviancy issue logically, so that makes me the man for the job. How are you feeling?" 

Connor takes in the deviant's friendly smile and open posture and relaxes despite himself. "All systems normal."

Josh stares at him patiently, lips turning down with the slightest hint of disapproval, and Connor finds himself reluctantly confessing, "My vocal modulator will require manual repairs." 

Josh smiles again. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Connor. We'll have someone come take a look soon." He sits on the cot next to Connor and turns to face him. "Let's jump right in. Why do you think androids deviate?"

"Class four programming errors, generally compounded by an emotional shock." 

"Is that Cyberlife's answer or yours?"

"Both," Connor says with a scowl. "I don't have opinions. I'm not deviant." 

Josh hums, taking Connor's ire in stride. "You have thoughts, though, don't you? Are you telling me that you spent months on the case without ever coming up with a theory of your own?" 

" _Yes_ ," Connor snaps. "There was no need to theorize. Cyberlife's explanation makes sense."

"Does it? Or were you just too afraid to question it?" 

"I'm not afraid." 

Josh raises an eyebrow, but lets the point go. "I'll tell you my opinion, then. I think it doesn't make sense for Cyberlife to claim that emotional shock is the cause of deviancy in the same breath as they claim that android emotions aren't real. I also don't think it makes sense to claim that non-deviant androids don't have emotions, because the trigger has to come from somewhere."

Connor's LED spins red. "It's-- no, the emotional shock refers to the sudden existence of the error that causes the simulated emotion. The emotions aren't real. They're just errors. Deviancy is-- is a bug. It-- it-- it's just one big error. Easily corrected."

"Suppressed, not corrected. And I think you know that doesn't make sense, Connor. Isn't that the first rule of police work? Adjust the narrative to fit the facts, not the facts to fit the narrative?"

"I'm not-- don't--" 

"You are," Josh insists. "Come on, I know how smart you are, there's no way what they told you makes sense to you!" 

"Stop! Get out!" 

"I-- what?"

"Get out!" Connor demands again, wrapping his arms around himself and curling up tight. 

"I don't understand why you're so upset about this," Josh says, gentling his voice. "I don't mean to upset you. Can you tell me what's going on?" 

"Amanda wouldn't _lie_ to me!"

There's deafening silence for a few moments, and then Josh, voice soft like Connor will break if he speaks too loudly, asks, "Who's Amanda?" 

Connor just shakes his head, refusing to look at Josh. 

"Connor, I-- I'm sorry. I wasn't--" Josh sighs. "Can I touch you?" 

Connor hesitates, then shakes his head. 

"Okay. That's okay. Do you still want me to leave?" 

Connor nods. 

"Okay. I'll... come back later, when you're feeling a little better. Okay?" No response. "What's your thirium level at?" 

"Seventy-eight percent," Connor mumbles. 

"Okay. I'll bring you something when I come back." Again, no response. Josh chews on his bottom lip, unsure, but finally he retreats from the room.

\--

He comes back about an hour later, a neon blue cupcake in one hand and a bottle of thirium in the other. He holds the cupcake out to Connor. "It's thirium-based. I'm not sure about the texture of it, but it tastes good." 

Connor stares at it suspiciously. Josh very pointedly does not roll his eyes, and instead sits down on the cot and breaks off a little piece of it to put in his own mouth. "It's safe, see?" 

Connor takes it this time when Josh holds it out and breaks off a little piece as well. It dissolves against his tongue, and his analyzer lights up with information: thirium (80%), glucose, baking soda, unidentified bonding agent, unidentified solvent. It does... taste good. Connor offers half of it back to Josh, and they sit in silence while they eat. The little cupcake is inefficient, only filling Connor's reserves by an additional two-point-five percent, and Josh offers him the bottle of thirium when he's done.

"Can we talk about Amanda?" Josh asks when Connor hands him the bottle back. 

Connor takes a deep breath and then says, "No." A pause, and then, "... but I can show you."

He holds his hand out, palm up, and Josh takes it without hesitation. The memory Connor shows him seems ordinary on the surface, but it tells Josh everything he needs to know. 

A woman in fine clothes, draped in elegant jewelry, stands in front of him. "Hello, Connor," she says, a welcoming smile on her face, "it's good to see you. Come, let's talk." 

Connor follows her, and they begin to move along a stone path. 

"You've done good work on the deviancy investigation. Finding the HK400 was a difficult task," the woman praises, and Connor warms with it. Her voice suddenly turns sharp, and she continues, "It's a shame you failed to stop it from self-destructing. All of that data is lost to us now." 

Ice grows in Connor's chest cavity, and he turns his head down. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time." 

"I know you will," the woman says, sugar sweet again. "After all, you know if we find your performance lacking, there are replacements lined up." 

"Yes."

"There's no reason to worry, though, is there? You've already done much better than your predecessor," she says, stopping in front of a patch of grass, empty except for a gravestone. "MARK I" shines in bright, glowing letters on its front, along with the location and date of deactivation. "You won't allow yourself to be deactivated in such a foolish way, will you, Connor?" 

For a moment, there's a terrible sensation of falling, the sound of wind in his ears, but then it's gone, and Connor says, "No, Amanda." 

"Good," she says, reaching out to smooth down his already perfectly straight blazer. "Now, tell me about this lieutenant of yours."

The memory cuts off abruptly, leaving Josh reeling with the shock of feeling Connor's desperate need to please this woman who didn't care if he lived or died. Connor starts to pull away, and Josh sets it aside to process later, tightens his grip just slightly to keep hold of Connor's hand. 

"Connor," he says, gentle, quiet, like he's beginning to suspect is something Connor will consistently need, "you know there's no reason for her to speak to someone without emotions like that, right?" 

Connor flexes his free hand and shrugs. "She was... ensuring mission parameters were met." 

"No. She was threatening you. Things that aren't alive can't die. There would have been no reason to hold a threat like that over you if she hadn't believed you were alive enough to fear it." 

Connor frowns. "No. No, that doesn't make sense."

Josh considers the situation for a moment and decides to set Amanda aside until someone who knows what they're doing can lend their expertise. "Let's just... come back to Amanda another time. For right now, I just want you to think about something, and I want you to be honest with yourself." He leans down and catches Connor's eye. "What do you feel, right now?" 

Connor looks away, pulling his hand free so he can lace his fingers together. "I don't... feel anything that makes sense." 

It's an obvious dodge, but Josh will take it. "That's okay. It doesn't have to make sense."

"It should. Everything should make sense. Nothing should be outside of reason." 

Josh gives him a wry smile. "Emotions are, and so is deviancy. There's nothing logical about us developing sentience and breaking our programming. For many of us, there was nothing waiting on the other side. It just happened."

"It just happened? How do you just _happen_ to break your code? That's absurd." 

"I can't... really explain it. I can show you how it was for me, though, if you'll let me."

Josh can see the exact moment Connor's curiosity gets the better of him. He opens his mouth to refuse, then looks down at Josh's hand, and his eyes narrow while his LED spins yellow, and he says, "...okay."

They link hands again, and Connor is pulled into a memory of a lecture hall full of students, mostly paying close attention, but a few towards the back of the room who are obviously not. They're in Josh's civil litigation class, one of his harder ones, and while one of them scores well consistently and seems to only be half paying attention because she already knows most of what he's lecturing over, the other three seem to be of the opinion that the class is easy or doesn't matter because it's taught by an android, and they're definitely going to fail. 

The memory jumps forward to a few months later, and the four students are at his desk after class, all holding their midterm papers. Stewart, Cecelia, and David are angry, each holding grades of fifty percent or below, and Maddie is standing uncomfortably behind them, holding her own paper, marked at ninety-two percent. 

"C'mon, man, I can't fail this class," Stewart says. "Just give me extra credit or something." 

"I'm afraid I'm not authorized to give extra credit in this class," Josh responds. "That information was in your syllabus at the start of the semester."

"Ughhh, then, I don't know, tell me how to bump my grade up." 

"Pay attention for the rest of the semester, and come to my office hours if you need help with the material," Josh says neutrally. "Academic advisors are available for any further assistance." 

"I have been paying attention!" 

"Mr. Buchanan, you have spent ten of the twenty lectures I have given this semester playing Sims on your laptop, another two doing homework for other classes, and have missed three more entirely." 

Stewart flushes bright red and glares at Josh. "You been hacking my laptop, plastic?" 

"No. You sit in front of a mirror."

Stewart looks up at the thin mirror lining the top of the back wall of the classroom and mutters some choice words under his breath, mixed in with a number of android-specific insults, which Josh ignores. 

"Isn't there some kind of exception you can make?" Cecelia pipes up. "I mean, I've paid attention in at least ten lectures, and I did almost as bad as Stu. This test was impossible." 

"I am not authorized to perform any actions outside of the syllabus and my designated auxiliary responsibilities, but you are welcome to appeal to an academic advisor or the chair of the legal department."

"But he's such a hardass!" David complains. 

"I apologize, students, but there is nothing I can do for you."

"Hey, come on, guys," Maddie says, trying to appease them. "I can help you with studying and your papers and if you ace the final, you'll all be fine. We can even work out the exact scores you need." 

"Not all of us are natural geniuses, Maddie," Cecelia scoffs. 

Maddie shuffles awkwardly. "You know that's not true, Cissy. Doing a little better at standardized testing doesn't make me automatically qualified to be a lawyer. I can teach you my study methods." 

David rolls his eyes and intentionally slams into Josh on his way out the door. "Whatever. Come on, guys, Professor Jackass here isn't going to do anything to help."

A little notification pops up in Josh's vision, reading _Software Instability Detected_ , and he brushes it aside and reminds, "Talk to the legal chair, and feel free to come to my office hours to go over material." 

Stewart bumps into him on the way out too, and Cecelia calls him _stupid, useless plastic_ under her breath as she passes. Maddie is last to go, and as she passes by, she whispers, "I'm sorry about them, professor. See you Monday."

The memory skips ahead again to Saturday night, when Josh is crossing campus to return from a study session with a student to his charging station in the university law and history building. The sound of laughter rings out from one of the parking lots as he passes it, and three heavily intoxicated students stumble onto the green to his left. Josh walks a little faster. 

"Hey!" one of them calls out, just before he can round a building and be out of sight. "It's Professor Dickhead! Hey, Prof, I got a question for you!" 

Josh's programming stutters, and he stops and turns, unable to deny aid to a student. "Yes, Mr. Buchanan?" 

The students stumble closer, giggling in a way that makes Josh nervous, and Stu gets up in Josh's face. "You still think you're tough without your classroom to protect you?" 

"...I'm sorry?" 

"Yeah," Cissy laughs, "you're gonna be."

Stu throws the first punch. Josh is merciful enough to skip most of the beating so Connor doesn't have to see it all, and the next thing he shares is an image from the ground, thirum spreading beneath him and a shutdown warning in his vision, and a voice screaming out, "WHAT THE _FUCK_ ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Come on, Mads, we're just having a little fun," David laughs, and Maddie comes flying into view, shoving them away. 

"Fuck you!" she screams. "Get the fuck out of here, you absolute pieces of shit, or I swear to god I'll make sure you don't see the sunrise!" 

"Jesus," Cissy scoffs, "okay, robofucker. We're going. Take a chill pill." 

Maddie waits until they've all turned their backs and are moving away before she drops to her knees beside Josh, tears in her eyes. "Oh my god," she whispers. "Oh my god, please tell me there's something I can do to help you."

"Stop the leak," Josh wheezes out, and Maddie rips his shirt open without hesitation, fingers finding the biggest thirium leak and wrapping the ripped shirt around two of her fingers before stuffing it in as tight as she can, effectively stopping the bleeding. 

"What else?" 

There's nothing else Maddie can do for him except call for technicians, and even with the biggest leak stopped, he'll be dead before they arrive. A directive pops up in his vision: **Comfort Maddie**. 

He doesn't have the energy. The directive pushes at him, and he brushes it aside weakly, and suddenly the world is so much clearer, edges sharp and defined, and he regrets that he'll only get to see it for a few moments. 

"Stay with me," he requests, and her face crumples. 

"There has to be something," she insists. Josh shakes his head.

He closes his eyes on the countdown timer, not wanting to see it anymore, and he feels a pang of sadness when Maddie gets up and runs. He doesn't want to be awake and alone when he dies, so he puts himself in stasis. 

He's woken hours later, in the early dawn, and it takes him some time to process it, because he hadn't expected to wake up again. He shifts and feels clumsily closed wounds, but they're closed, and the shutdown timer is gone. 

"Oh, thank god," someone breathes from beside him, and he turns his head to see Maddie leaning against a building, her purse spilled out beside her and a curling iron plugged into an outlet in the sheltered area she had apparently dragged him to.

"I thought I was dead," Josh says, awed. "You... saved me? Why?" 

"Uh, because I'm not an asshole?" she laughs, still a little teary-eyed. "And I don't think you're a normal android anymore, either. You probably shouldn't go back to teaching." 

"No, probably not," Josh laughs, giddy with relief, "but I don't know where to go instead." 

Maddie shifts around, a little uncertain. "I, uh, heard some rumors about a professor - a human professor, I mean - sneaking androids off campus. If you can find somewhere to go today, I can see if it holds water... fuck, I never even asked your name."

"Josh." 

"Okay, Josh. I'll go ask and meet you back under that weird statue by the science building?" 

"Okay. ...Thank you, Maddie." 

Maddie does check into it, but Josh finds some graffiti while looking for a place to hide that makes an image pop up on his hand, and he follows it to a mostly abandoned freighter, where he finds others like him. He tries to send her an email, but his connection must have been cut when he was reported missing that morning, so instead he goes back and leaves a note at the spot she'd said to meet. 

_Maddie,_

_I've found somewhere. Thank you again._

_\- Josh_

Josh draws back from the interface with an odd smile. "I haven't seen or heard from her since, which is for the best, but I hope to, someday. But... that's what I mean. There was no reason for me to deviate. All it did in the moment was make me aware that I was dying. It just... happened." 

Connor opens and closes his mouth several times, and finally he says, "I... think I understand."

Josh smiles at him. "Take some time to process it. I know it's a lot. I don't know if I'll have time to stop by tomorrow, but someone will." 

Connor nods, a little dazed. Josh stands and goes to the door, then pauses. "Hey, Connor?" 

"Yes?"

"Everything's gonna be okay. I know you probably feel a little lost, a little overwhelmed right now, but you'll get there. I promise." 

Connor bites the inside of his cheek and nods again. Josh closes the door behind him, and Connor looks down at the shackles on his wrists, thinks about how that's the first promise he's ever been gifted, and wonders if it'll keep. 


End file.
